When we went to see the Hearts castle, we stayed in Paso Robles at a park named Wine Country RV. It was a very nice park with all concrete pads and great amenities. The sites are very close together. Everything was spotless around the park and the staff was very friendly. There is even a winery on-site and you can do wine tastings there. We stayed Passport America which is 50% off the regular price and we still paid $40 a night! We don't normally pay that much, but most of the parks in Paso Robles were a little pricey.
One thing about the area, it is FULL of wineries. It is like a mini Nappa without all the traffic. There were wineries that I have heard of and had their wine before and there were wineries that I had not heard of. The staff at the park told us which winery had a beautiful sunset, which winery was the "party" winery, and which winery had the best wine at the best prices. There was a "west" wine trail and an "east" wine trail. The park even offered a wine tour that included food, a seat on the van (so you have a driver), and 5 tastings. Believe me when I say there were MANY wineries. I think there were around 20 on each wine trail. Of the ones I read about, there were about 15 that offered "buy one tasting, get one free." They also sell the local wines from all these wineries at the local Albertson's. So, what you pass up at the winery, you can purchase there.
On the day we went to Big Sur, we went back through Monterrey. Mr. W and I had gone to Monterrey briefly when we visited California on a short fly in visit several years ago. We had had a great time there and wanted to revisit. We went to The Wharf area for lunch. We didn't go to the tourist Wharf, we went to the commercial Wharf. We had been told that all the locals went to a place called the Sand Bar. Well, when you hear where the locals go, you gotta go! Man, we were sorry. The food was not good and it was way over priced. So, you have been warned. Do NOT go to The Sand Bar.
We went over to the tourist Wharf after lunch and walked through the little shops. There was a shop there that offered "water massages". You lay in a bed that looks like a tanning bed. It is lined inside with a heavy plastic that has water inside. You climb in the bed (you only take off your shoes) and they turn it on. The water pulsates up and down your body which gives you a "massage". You can do 10 minutes, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes. Terri and I did it for 15 minutes. It was awesome.
After The Wharf, we headed over to Cannery Row, and that is a fun place too. Go to both places if you are ever in the area.
OK, last but not least, we bought a new RV! Who knew? We had our Blackwood fifth wheel since November 2012. We started living in it in July 2013. So, we had owned it about 5 1/2 years and we were starting to have some major issues with it. Mr. W had been working on it and worrying over it for about a year. The night before we left on this trip, he noticed a crack in the gel coat right above one of the slides. We had already been looking at fifth wheels, trying to decide what we wanted to do. As we traveled across the country, the crack was starting to move and get larger. We had looked online at the inventory at a dealership in California and decided we would go check it out while we were close. We did, we bought, we moved our stuff, and we now have a new traveling home.
We bought a new 2017 Redwood. It is 39 feet long. It has a residential refrigerator (Mr. W didn't want this, I did), a large pantry, a fireplace, slow rise shades, a convection microwave, king size bed, 3 air conditioners/2 heat pumps, and full body paint. It has a lot of other stuff too, but those are the ones most people ask me about.
So, now I am headed back to Texas to license and register my new home and see my kids and grandkids. California has some beautiful land and coastline. The buying of the new trailer cut our trip short and so we missed some things/places that were in our original plan. I guess that means another trip to California in the future.
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